


Human

by busigt_81



Category: NCIS
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-03-01
Packaged: 2018-01-14 05:30:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1254709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/busigt_81/pseuds/busigt_81
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone from Tony's past comes to work at NCIS and it doesn't bode well for Tony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Human

**Author's Note:**

> Before you read this be aware that this story is au, there may occure some grammar misstakes because english isn't my first language. This story was posten on an old NCIS fiction site but I decided to post it here and did som changes to it!  
> Enjoy!

It was Monday, after lunch and Tony was sitting with his feet on his desk and was throwing small paper balls at Ziva and McGee.

"Cut it out, please." McGee said when he was hit for the fourth time between his eyes. "I'm working here."

"It wasn't me." Tony said with a big smile as he nodded towards Ziva, who suddenly looked very innocent. McGee shook his head as he turned back to his computer and started to type on his keyboard.

He heard small sounds coming from Tony and Ziva, he peered over his computer at his co-workers. They were having a small war, throwing the small paper balls between them and they were laughing quietly at each other.

McGee smiled to himself, he really liked working with Tony, Ziva and Gibbs. He had never thought it would turn out so good as it did but it felt like they all were a big family, he, Abby, Tony, Ziva, Gibbs and even Ducky, a big dysfunctional but happy family.

He laughed out loud as Ziva hit Tony on the nose with a not so small paper ball, making him almost fall backwards.

"Stop it now before DiNozzo kills himself." Gibbs said as he walked in between their desks, making all three agents jump. "And clean this mess up before the director sees you."

Ziva and Tony started to pick up the big amount off paper balls from the floor as Gibbs phone started to ring.

"Talk about the devil." Gibbs said as he hung up. "She wants to see us. Get a move on!"

They all hurried behind Gibbs as he walked up to the directors office and as they all came into the room were the director's secretary usually sat McGee noticed that a man was behind the desk. But before he could point it out, Director Shepard stepped out of her office.

"That was fast Agent Gibbs." She looked over her glasses at Gibbs team. "I just wanted to say: great work on your last case." Gibbs made a sour grimace, she was giving them praise when she was the one hiring Chip and creating the mess from the start. She continued talking not seeing Gibbs look. "This is Jared, my new secretary and assistant."

"Hey." The man behind the desk said and waved a small hand.

McGee looked at him and nodded as Shepard introduced them, Jared was good looking guy, blond with brown eyes and when he stood up to follow the director he stood as tall as Tony and Gibbs.

McGee frowned, he looked more like her body guard than secretary and he said it out loud when they were back behind their desks.

Ziva smiled and said something about that it was nice to have someone too look at other than the security guys and Gibbs just shook his head.

McGee looked over at Tony for some witty come back but the other agent was just looking out the window, thinking about something. He dropped the subject and turned back to his computer.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Abby was down in her lab, working, music playing loud when suddenly someone turned off her music. She turned around, ready to bash the one's head but as she saw Tony she just smiled big.

He handed her a Caff-Pow and smiled his big smile at her.

"Thanks, cutie." Abby said. "Not much to do today?"

"No, it's so boring to sit behind that desk." Tony said sitting down beside Abby.

"Here to, so let's gossip. Have you seen the directors new secretary? Wow, what a guy. Good looking, well built and his name is Jared....."Abby blabbered.

"Yes." Tony said as he happy smiled faltered.

Abby stopped talking as she looked at her close friend, she and Tony were really good friends. They partied together, flirted together, both not shy about their sex-life and talked about everything. Abby like experimenting and she knew that Tony got many suggestions from both females and males to not have tried it.  
They were so much alike and she loved it.

Now looking at her really close friend she clasped her hand over her mouth before she said:

"Don't tell me that he is that Jared?!"

Tony looked at her with his clear green eyes and nodded.

"No way!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, it's him."

"Do you think it is a coincidence?"

"I don't know. Why wouldn't it be?" Tony said sighing and looking at his hands.

Abby looked at Tony, reached over and grabbed his hands, Tony looked back at her.

"Shouldn't you tell Gibbs?"

"No, Abby." Tony said terrified. "I don't think that he want to know about my sex-life and that one of my exes is working for the director."

"But he was obsessed with you, following you, threatening people around you and I know that he hit you at least once."

"That was an accident and six months ago, Abby. I don't think that he would sacrifice so much for just be around me." Tony said frowning.

"Uhu, sure." Abby said smiling, as she reached over and messed with his hair. "Don't you know that you are undeniable?"

Tony smiled at her as he kissed her on her cheek and they started to talk about other things.

 

–-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The days went by without any real case and Tony was bored out of his mind, he was feeling really restless and whenever he turned to look up towards the floor above the bullpen Jared was there.  
Not watching him but sometimes Tony could almost feel that someone was watching him. He shrugged his shoulders and thought to himself that he was getting paranoid.

He and Jared had a short fling about six months ago, Tony ended it as Jared started to get possessive and he wasn't really Tony's type. He looked over at Gibbs as the older man sat as his desk working on some old paperwork. In your dreams, DiNozzo, he said to himself. Gibbs would never be interested in you like that. He shook his head and turned back to his paperwork.

 

–--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

McGee looked up towards the MTAC sign, there was the directors new secretary again standing by the rail looking down at the bullpen. Jared was looking down at them quite often, giving McGee the chills but he couldn't really figure out who he was staring at.

 

–----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Gibbs looked at his team from behind his desk, Ziva was writing something in her papers, Tony was blipping on his computer and as he looked at McGee he saw him looking up at the floor above and then turning back to his computer.

Gibbs followed his line of sight and saw Jared, Jen's new secretary looking down at them. He stared right back at him as Jared looked at him, making him quickly look away and walk away towards Jen's office. Gibbs couldn't quite put his finger on it but that man gave him the creeps.

Tony stared to drum his pen against his desk, humming to himself making Ziva and McGee look at him with unhappy faces. Gibbs cleared his throat loudly but Tony didn't noticed and kept going.

"Stop it, DiNozzo!" Gibbs growled.

"Uh, sorry boss." Tony said with a small smile.

Gibbs nodded to him and turned back to his paperwork. But after ten minutes the young agent was at it again, Gibbs sighed loudly before yelling at Tony to stop. Tony looked at him with an innocent look and deep green eyes.

"Go down and swim off that extra energy!" Gibbs said and almost smiled as Tony jumped up and was on his way to the new swimming pool, down in the basement. "You have one hour."

 

–---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Tony changed into a pair of knee long shorts and jumped down into the clear water, this was just what he needed.  
He loved to swim and it helped him a lot when he was so restless, Gibbs had read his mind. So he emptied his mind, concentrating on the feel of the water around him and the hour Gibbs had given him ended to quickly for Tony's taste.  
He grabbed his towel and moved into the showers. He closed his eyes as he let the spray of water fall down on his body and he was just about to go and change when he felt someone behind him. Before he could do anything he was pushed into the wall, hitting his head so hard it made him dizzy and weak in his knees.

"You are so beautiful." A voice breathed in his ear. "I missed you so much."

"Stop, Jared." Tony's head was spinning, his voice weak and he felt nauseous as he felt Jared's breath on his cheek. Jared gripped his arm behind his back very hard making him squeezed his eyes shut.

"I just couldn't walk away when I saw you half naked...." Jared leaned his head down and kissed Tony's neck, using his whole body weight to keep Tony in place.

When Tony felt Jared's lips neck, he shivered and somehow he pushed himself from the wall, breaking Jared’s hold on his arm then he turned around and pushed Jared away.

"I said no, Jared." Tony said, his voice had little more strength but his head was still spinning from hitting the wall.

Jared fell down and looked up at Tony, blinked and the blond mans face went red, he stood up looking around in the shower room.

"I'm so sorry, Tony." He said and moved towards the agent who just held up his hand, making Jared stop. "I don't know what flew into me. I'm really sorry, please believe me."

"Just go, Jared."

"Let me help you." Jared said taking a step forward.

"No, Jared. Please leave." Tony said forcing himself to look into Jared's brown eyes. The blond man looked really sorry and opened his mouth but closed it and slowly walked away.

Keep his eyes on Jared as he walked out, Tony took a deep breath and he sank down so he was sitting on the floor hugging his knees, his head resting on them. He kept on taking deep breaths, concentrating on it, trying to keep his thoughts calm.

Take it easy, he said to himself. This isn't the first time, you have been thru this and you can get thru it again. Nothing really happened.

Tony leaned his head back toward the wall, his head wasn't spinning so much and he heard his cellphone ring. It lay on a bench not far from the showers. Slowly he got up and answered it.

"Meet us in the lab in 15 minutes." Gibbs said on the other line.

"Sure, boss." Tony said trying to sound normal before he hung up. Time to get to work.

 

–-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"What happened to you?" Abby asked as Tony walked into the lab, his hair was still wet and a bruise was forming on the left side of his head above his eye. "Did someone try to force him on you?" She tried to joke, she always tried to make him see that people found him very attractive but when she saw Tony's face go white she knew that something had happened. Abby leaned forward and grabbed his hand, trying to make eye contact with him.

"Abby..." Tony said as he looked into her eyes. "Don't worry, I can look after myself."

"It was Jared, wasn't it." Abby's voice grew higher with each word she said. "You need to tell Gibbs, Tony!"

"Abby, calm down. Nothing happened."Tony said rubbing her arm.

"But it almost did?"

She knew him to well and he knew that she could almost read him like an open book, he opened his mouth to say something more but was interrupted by Gibbs, Ziva and McGee walking in.

He looked at her pleadingly as she opened her mouth, felt as surprised as the rest of the team looked as she spoke to him in Italian.

"I'll let it go for now but we will talk about it."

Tony nodded and answered her back in Italian.  
”Yes, but please leave it for now.”

 

McGee looked between Abby and Tony, as she spoke in Italian. He knew that she could speak it flawless and Tony too, he knew also that they were the only one who spoke it. McGee looked at Gibbs and saw the question in his eyes also, what was so secret that they couldn't speak in front of the rest of the team?

Then he noticed the bruise on Tony's head and was just about to say something but Gibbs beat it to him.

"What happened?" Gibbs motioned towards Tony's head.

"I slipped in the shower." Tony said looking away.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I have a hard head." Tony smiled and Gibbs accepted the answer but McGee could see that he wasn't buying it.

Gibbs turned to Abby and the talk went to work related, but McGee noticed both Abby and Gibbs glancing at Tony more than usual. And he noticed himself doing it also.

They all were a little worried about Tony. 

–------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony stopped typing for a second, his head still hurt little so he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. But as he closed them he remembered and felt Jared's breath on his neck, making him shiver and he took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He opened his eyes again, shook his head a little and moved his stiff neck.  
Gibbs was sitting behind his desk, listening to the sounds around as he worked and when he didn't hear the sound of Tony's typing he looked up at the young agent.

Tony had leaned back and closed his eyes, Gibbs eyes widened a little when he heard Tony's sharp intake of air and opened his eyes, shivering.

"You okay, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked. 

"Yes, boss." Tony said not really meeting Gibbs eyes, turning back to the computer.

Gibbs frowned, something wasn't right with Tony. He thought back to when he, McGee and Ziva walked into the lab. He heard Abby saying something like "but it almost did" then he heard her speak Italian to Tony and he had felt that he just missed something important.  
Abby never spoke in another language in front of the team unless she wanted to say something secretly or if she joked around. And she didn't look like she was joking.

So when Tony had answered back, Gibbs had looked at him, noticed the big bruise forming on his head and he knew something was up. When Gibbs asked him about it he reached forward slightly and Tony had flinched away from him but he didn't anyone noticed that other than him. He let it drop but promised himself to ask Tony about it later, in private.

Gibbs was just about to say something more when he saw Tony look up and then the young mans eyes widened as Jared, Jen's secretary, walked into the bullpen and over to his desk. He didn't knew that Tony and Jared knew each other but it seem like it as the blond man leaned towards Tony to talk.

Gibbs grew more concerned as he saw the younger agent shifted his body, like he was getting ready to defend himself and Gibbs tried to look like he wasn't eavesdropping but he heard every word.

"Tony, we need to talk." Jared said looking into Tony's green eyes.

"Jared, I'm working." Tony said in a low voice but Gibbs thought he heard something else in Tony's tone.

"But we need to talk, you have to let me explain." Jared leaned more forward, making Tony lean back in his chair. Jared lowered his voice to a whisper. "I really need you."

Gibbs almost leaned over his desk to hear the whisper, he couldn't hear the words but he saw Tony pale as he heard the words Jared whispered and as Jared moved one his hands towards Tony's on the desk.  
Gibbs was just about to ask his agent if Jared was bothering when he heard the soft thumping of Abby walking into the bullpen. He watched as her eyes widened in anger when she saw Jared at Tony's desk, she walked up to them, positioned herself behind Tony and laid a hand on his shoulder as she glared at Jared.

"I need to talk to you, Tony." She said as she almost pulled Tony from his chair. "Over there, excuse us." Abby dragged Tony over to the windows outside the bullpen.

Jared stood at Tony's desk starring after them, the he shook himself and walked away.

Gibbs cast a long glance as the blond man walked past his desk and then he turned back to Abby and Tony.

Abby was talking and Gibbs could see that she was upset, Tony stood there listening to her but after a few minutes he gently took her arm, said something and kissed her on the cheek.  
That made her stop talking and she looked at him then she held her finger up to him before they walked back into the bullpen.

"Hey boss-man. Here are the results." Abby handed him some papers ignoring his look and raised eyebrow.

"Thanks Abby." Gibbs said and she walked away down to the lab again. He laid down the paper to look at Tony again who was back at his desk, working.

Gibbs looked around the bullpen to is someone else has noticed what just happened. Ziva was still working with her papers and it seemed like no one else had saw the conversation but as he looked over to McGee he saw the younger agent frown as he looked up to the floor above.  
He followed the agent's line of sight and saw Jared just turning away, walking to Jen's office.

Gibbs looked over to Tony, who was typing again, everything seemed okay now making Gibbs wondered if he wasn't getting to overprotective off his agents.

Forcing himself to stop staring at Tony he turned back to his computer but he couldn't keep his thoughts from racing thru his head.

It had taken him a few years to realize that he had developed strong feelings for his senior field agent but when they had surface, he knew that they had been there from day one. He knew that he couldn't offer Tony anything, the guy could get anyone he wanted and surely he didn't want some old marine.

Gibbs turned back to his work, trying to concentrate, he had to finish this then he would find out why Jared made Abby so mad and Tony so uncomfortable.

 

–---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Tony stood up carefully, feeling a little dizzy but it quickly disappeared and he gathered his things. Gibbs had just told them to pack up for to today, before he walked up to the directors office.

Tony was relieved, he just wanted to go home and take a hot long shower. He just needed to get to the restroom first.

"Do you want us to wait?" McGee asked as he saw Tony walking towards the restroom.

"Thanks but no, Probie." Tony said sending McGee a big smile. "See you tomorrow!"

"Okay, bye Tony." McGee and Ziva walked over to the elevator talking and waving at him.

After finishing his business, he made his way towards his desk, grabbed his gear and walked over to the elevator.

His steps echoed thru the empty parking garage as he walked over to his car, nearly everyone had gone home. He put his keys into the lock and was just about to open when he heard someone behind him. He turned around and was face to face with Jared, making Tony almost reached for his gun but he forced his hands away.

"What do you want, Jared." He said in a tired voice.

"I just want to apologize for earlier." Jared said his brown eyes watching Tony's every move hungrily. "I didn't mean to hurt you..." He move towards Tony, held up his hand as to touch the bruise on Tony's head.

Tony jerked his head away and tried to back away but his car was right behind him, stopping him. He felt nauseous as Jared caressed his cheek.

"But you are so beautiful that I can't keep my hands from you."

"Jared, no." Tony hated how weak his voice sounded, he was a big boy and he could take care of himself. This wasn't the first time he had gotten unwanted attention and as Jared leaned forward to kiss him, Tony shoved Jared away making a small space between them. "No, Jared."

"But I could make you happy." Jared said in a soft voice as he moved towards Tony again.

"We already tried this, it didn't work." Tony said planting a hand on Jared's chest to keep the distance between them.

"You can give me a second chance." Jared said looking at Tony's hand and then into his eyes, he pushed Tony's hand away as he made a move to kiss him again.

"Don't you get it? I don't want you." Tony said as he pushed Jared hard.

Jared stumbled backwards and as he stood still, he looked up at Tony, his eyes blazing with anger.  
Before Tony could say or do anything more he rushed Tony with a speed a few men in his size could manage. He punched Tony hard in the stomach, making the agent lose his breath and before Tony could recover Jared punched him a few times more.  
Tony could feel his ribs taking the brunt of the hits but he knew that Jared could easily break them if he really wanted.

During their short fling Jared had worked at a gym, as a personal trainer and he had held a few boxing classes. Jared was still very fit and weighed a couple of pounds more than Tony.

Suddenly Jared stopped and Tony sank down onto the ground, trying get some air into his lungs. As he started to get his breathing under control, he could hear Jared's voice and the blond man kneeled in front of him, tears in his brown eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Tony. So sorry!" He said, his voice in aganoy, as he touched Tony's face. "I don't know what got into me, I'm so sorry. Please, Tony..."

"Get away from me, Jared." Tony croaked, God his ribs hurt but he didn't think any was broken. He pushed Jared's hand away. "Don't touch me."

Jared leaned back on his heels, tears threatening to spill from his eyes but he held his hands to himself and stood up as Tony slowly got up to his feet, one arm cradling his ribs.

"Tony, you have to....."

"No, Jared." Tony leaned against his car, breathing shallowly and he held out his other hand as he said: "Just stay away....."

"But I didn't mean to hurt you. I never want to hurt you." Jared looked at Tony with pleading eyes. "I just want you to talk to me."

"Jared, just stay away from me. I can't talk to you now."

"Let me drive you home at least?" Jared begged.

"NO!" Tony almost shouted. "Jared, just leave me alone."

"Please don't talk to director Shepard, she would fire me for this. I really am sorry, Tony. You mean so much to me...."

Tony just looked at Jared, disbelief clear in his green eyes. Jared looked truly sorry and against his better knowing Tony nodded to him.

"I won't talk to her." Jared's face brightened as Tony talked. "But don't come near me...." Tony got into his car, started it and drove off.

I'll make you see, see that I'm the one for you. Jared thought to himself as he watched Tony drive away. He looked at his hands, the right one had red knuckles. Stupid, stupid. He thought to himself and he hit himself in the head. You need to control your temper and then he will be yours.

–--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist and walked into his bedroom so he could get dressed for work. He stopped in front of the mirror and looked at himself, his image made him frown.

He had a big black bruise on the right side of his upper body where Jared had hit him last night, on his left arm were a hand shaped bruise from where the blond man had grabbed him in the shower. He shook his head, put his clothes on and drove off to work

Tony turned off the engine, he was in the parking garage and was just about to get out of his car but he really didn't want to leave his car. His hands gripped the steering wheel hard and he felt contempt for himself.

He really loved his job, his co workers and he couldn't let something like this destroy it.  
He sighed to himself, why was he acting like such a wimp? Jared wasn't that scary, really......

Tony took a deep breath, opened the car door, got out and walked into the office.

–---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gibbs walked into Abby's lab, smiling to himself at the loud music and he just stood there watching Abby as she bobbed her head up and down. He placed a big cup of her favorite drink as he mentioned towards the stereo. Abby smiled big and jumped out of her chair and walked over to the stereo and lowered the music.

Gibbs had sent his team home and he was on his way home also but he had to speak to Abby about what happened yesterday between her, Tony and Jared.

"So, what's up bossman?" Abby asked as she sipped on her drink.

"Do you know the Director's new secretary, Jared?" Abby's smile disappeared and she looked at Gibbs with dark eyes.

"Not really..." She said, sipping her drink but she stared intently at Gibbs.

"Do Tony know him?" Gibbs tried to sound as he was asking about the weather but he knew that he had failed as Abby's eyes widened.

"Why do you ask?" Abby wanted to tell Gibbs all she knew about Tony and Jared, she was really worried about Tony but she couldn't say anything without violating Tony's trust.

"Because..." Gibbs could see that Abby knew something and that she wanted to tell him about it but something held her back. "I don't know but he makes my skin crawl."

"Yeah, mine to." Abby said. "But you have to ask Tony about it."

Gibbs nodded not wanting to force Abby to say more than she really wanted and he turned the conversation into safer waters.

 

–--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

McGee and Ziva were of course already at their desks, when Tony walked into the bullpen but Gibbs was nowhere to be seen as always, probably scoring some coffee somewhere.  
Tony put on his game face as he traded jokes with McGee and Ziva but he froze in mid step as he looked at his desk.

On his desk stood a vase with about 10 red roses in it, Tony slowly made his way to his desk and sat down, looking at the flowers and he noticed a card. He took it, fingered on it before he opened it.

 

–------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

McGee looked up as Tony walked into the bullpen, he was very curious about the red roses that was on the other mans desk but a sinking feeling made it's way to his stomach when Tony froze when he saw them. He walked over to Tony's desk as the other man sat down and took out the card.

"They were already here when I came in this morning." McGee said as stood beside Tony. He became more worried as Tony looked up at him with a startled look.

"Oh, it's just from some admirer..." Tony said sounding very tired as he read the card.

"Everything ok, Tony?" McGee asked sounding really concerned.

"Thanks, Tim but everything is alright." Tony said offering him a small smile. "Thanks for asking."

McGee nodded, walked back to his desk and sat down when: Tony had called him by his first name! He never did that and the sinking feeling in his stomach grew worse.  
Tony looked at the little card as McGee walked away, he swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and then he opened it.

"Tony...  
I'm really really sorry about what happened yesterday. You mean so much to me and I never want to hurt you. I'm glad that you are giving me a second chance."

It was signed with a simple J.

Tony closed his eyes trying to keep the nausea away, why was Jared doing this? He had told Jared to keep away from him. He crumpled the card, threw it away and turned to his computer.

He was just about to check his e-mail when a shadow appeared over him so he looked up.

"You called me Tim." McGee was standing over him with a strange look on his face.

"Well, that is your name?" Tony said, sounding a bit tired as he carefully leaned back in his chair.

"You never call me by my first name."

"Anything to keep you on your toes." Tony leaned a little forward with a smile. "But if you like probie so much, who am I to call you by any other name, Probie."

McGee shook his head and walked back to his desk, not fully convinced but letting Tony of the hook for now. But he was going to find out why Tony seemed so out of character.

 

–-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Tony turned back to his computer to access his e-mail and when he saw his inbox he felt the nausea coming back in full force. There where at least 100 "I'm so sorry"- mail from a "J" and it could only be from Jared.

Tony marked all the e-mails and clicked on the delete button before making his way towards the restroom, where locked the door and emptied his stomach in one of the toilets.

After washing his face with cold water, he looked himself in the mirror. Why was he letting Jared affect him this way? How did he suddenly become so weak and defenseless?

He, who had taken several defense classes. He, who had fought serial killers and big military men on a daily basis.

But that hadn't been sexual and he had gotten unwanted sexual attention before. He had handled it, one time nearly ending in rape, he had been really drunk and he thought that maybe someone slipped something into his drink, but he had gotten himself out of that mess.

Tony sighed and shook his head, maybe it was because this time it was happening on his home turf, his place where he usually felt the safest and maybe it was the one time that meant too many.  
No, he wasn't going to let Jared destroy this.

 

–------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Gibbs walked into the bullpen watching his team working at their desks and as he sat down at his desk he took an extra long look at his senior agent.

Tony looked a little paler than usual, making the bruise on his head stand out but otherwise he looked fine. As he scanned around the bullpen, he noted that McGee seemed a little distracted so he followed McGee's line of sight and he saw that Tony's trashcan held a bunch of red roses. His eye brow climbed when he saw them and as he looked closer he noticed a card, crumpled but you could see that it was a card.

Usually he wouldn't poke around in his team workers trashcans but after his talk with Abby yesterday he knew that something was up with Tony and he wanted to know what. 

–---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony sat at his desk working on his computer trying to ignore the little pop-up window to the right on the screen. It flashed showing that he had received new e-mails. He sighed as he forced himself to check the inbox and the sight made him really uncomfortable.

20 new e-mails, all from "J" and had the same headline: "Sorry".

Tony deleted them all without opening any of them while he was thinking about what he should do about Jared. He had to do something because this was getting creepy but what could he do?

A little voice inside his head told him that he should talk to Gibbs about it, but really what could Gibbs do? And would he even care?

Tony had a nightmare version of what Gibbs would do if he came running to him with his personal love life and it wasn't pretty. He could see Gibbs looking at him with distaste and disappointment. He let out another sigh and turned back to the computer to concentrate on his work in front of him.

"What are you sighing about, pretty boy?" Abby asked with a smile that grew concerned as she saw the fine lines that indicated tiredness, a thing you almost never would see on Tony, around his eyes.

"Oh, hey Abs." Tony said with a smile. "Nothing really. Just hate paperwork you know."

Abby looked at him clearly unconvinced as she leaned across the desk to whisper in his ear:

"You can't fool me, babe." She leaned back a little. "You know that you can talk to me about anything..."

"Thanks Abs." Tony leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me. I'm a grown man and can take care of myself."

"I know that you are an adult but I worry about you anyway, pretty boy." Abby kissed him on the cheek and became serious. "Has Jared bothered you again?"

"Abby, I...."

"Don't lie to me, Tony." Abby looked him straight in the eyes. "I would die if anything happened to you."

"Take it easy, Abs." Tony said calmly, hearing the distress in her voice and he felt like he had to tell her something. "There where an incident in the garage yesterday..."

"What happened?" Abby asked when Tony fell silent. "You know that you can trust me."

"I know, Abs." Tony looked at her, a feeling that lightened his heavy heart made him feel really glad that they were so good friends. "We can talk about it later, after work?"

"Sure, I'll come up later and we can buy some beer and pizza." Abby said kissing him on the cheek before walking away.

–-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Gibbs watched Abby and Tony from his hiding place just outside the bullpen, their heads close together as they whispered to each other, looking almost like they were at high school and sharing secrets. He wondered what it was about, he knew that something was up with Tony and he wanted to help but didn't want to make Tony uncomfortable.

Gibbs loved to watch the young man but the desire to do more than watch grew stronger every day. He wanted to touch, to feel, smell and hear Tony's breathing up close, preferably in a bed.

Shaking his head, trying to clear his head a little, Tony wouldn't want him. He was too old and the second B did stand for bastard. He sighed to himself as he walked over to his own desk.

 

–--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Let's go, cutie!" Abby said as she sat down on Tony's desk. "I'm craving for a beer and some alone time with you."

Tony looked up at her and smiled, he grabbed his things and they walked out of the bullpen towards the elevators. McGee and Ziva had left 15 minutes ago and Gibbs was down at the morgue talking to Ducky.

They stepped out of the elevator talking to each other about the last time they had gone clubbing. They made their way towards Tony's car when someone grabbed Tony's arm.

"Tony, we need to talk."

Abby turned around and saw Jared standing, holding her friends arm in hard grip.

"Let him go." She said in a threatening voice as she moved towards the two men.

"Abby, stay away." Tony said not wanting her to get hurt. "Jared, I told you to leave me alone."

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm really sorry about yesterday." Jared said not looking at Abby but still holding Tony's arm. "You know that I never wanted to hurt you."

"Did he hit you, again?" Abby asked in a high pitched voice as she looked at Tony, the worry clear in her eyes.

"Abs...." Tony started but was interrupted when Jared took a step closer towards her while saying:

"Don't talk to him like that and don't assume that I hurt him." Jared glared at Abby with dark eyes.

"Jared, don't." Tony said in a hard voice as he pushed Abby behind, placing himself between them ready to protect her in case Jared went mental again. "I told you to leave me alone."

"Maybe but then you promised me not to talk to the Director so I think that you do want me around. Maybe you are playing hard to get." Jared said with a smile as he turned back to Tony and started to get closer.

"Jared, I don't want you." Tony said as he wrenched his armed out of Jared's grip.

"But, Tony....." Jared whined, sounding like a small child.

"No, Jared." Tony turned his back to the blond man, ushered Abby into his car and they drove away.

Abby looked thru the back window of the car, seeing Jared still standing and looking at them then she turned to look at Tony.

"Tony....." She started to say, she was feeling very uneasy and worried.

"Abs, please. I can't do it now. Wait until we get to my place." Tony said as he gripped the steering wheel hard, trying to keep his hands from shaking. The fine lines around his eyes showing and his voice sounded really tired.

"Sure, cutie." Abby said, leaning back to look out the window. Unconsciously she grabbed Tony's hand that wasn't on the wheel and she held it the whole ride.

Tony glanced at her, a small smile showing on his face and he squeezed her hand a little and the rest of the ride went in a comfortable silence.

 

–---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

They made their way up the stairs to Tony's apartment, he unlocked the door and they went in. Abby caught Tony's longing glance towards the bathroom, she grabbed his hand and said.

"Grab a shower, meanwhile I'll order the pizzas."

Tony looked at her gratefully and he made his way to the bathroom. Then he stripped, turned on the shower and stepped under the water. 

–---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Abby grabbed the phone and called the pizza delivery place, then she busied herself with getting the beers and plates out trying not to think about the incident to much. But she had to admit that she was worried about Tony.

The doorbell rang, it was the pizza delivery guy, she paid him and set things up. Then she went to the bathroom door and knocked on it.

"The pizza's are here." She said thru the door.

"I'll be out in a minute Abs." Tony's muffled voice said thru the door and she walked back to the kitchen.

Tony stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel and made his way to his bedroom. He dried himself and grabbed a pair of sweatpants. He and Abby knew each other so well so he didn't bother to put on a shirt and made his way into the kitchen.

"Boy, it smells good." He said and Abby turned to him with a smile on her face that disappeared as she laid her eyes on him.

"Did he do that to you yesterday?" She asked vehemence clear in her voice.

At first Tony looked at her dumbly, then he remembered the bruises and he closed his eyes as he berated himself on how stupid he was for not putting on a shirt. But his thoughts were interrupted when Abby carefully laid her arms around his waist and hugged him very gently.

After a few minutes Abby let him go and she looked up at him.

"I think the pizzas are getting cold."

"I think you are right, Abs."

They sat down and started eating, talking around the subject of Jared none of them wanted to spoil their appetite. Then they cleared the table, grabbed their beer bottles and made their way into the living room.

"Does it hurt?" Abby asked as she looked at him, her eyes trailing the bruise on his upper body.

"Not much. Have been thru worse." Tony said as he leaned back and seemed to sink into the big comfortable sofa.

"You have to tell Gibbs." Abby said, looking him in the eyes.

"I don't know." Tony said, looking away. "I'm sure that he doesn't want to hear about my crazy ex-boyfriend gone bad."

"He cares about you more than you think, Tony. If you don't tell him I'll before it's too late, who knows what Jared would do. That man is really scary."

"It's just so...." Tony said as he looked at Abby. "So embarrassing. I have fought bigger and meaner guys but Jared makes me feel so...."

"Scared shitless?" Abby continued for him, thinking about when she was stalked. "I know, Tony but you can't do this alone."

"But I have a gun, I'm trained in handling violent people." Tony said feeling lost.

"You can't think so, Jared is a psycho and I think that if he was after Gibbs, the bossman would be afraid."

"Abs...." Tony said disbelief clear on his face. "Gibbs is never afraid of anyone."

"Maybe but I can promise you that he is afraid of loosing you and if something happens to you, other than being beat up by a man twice the size of you, I promise you that he would blame himself and so would I."

"Thanks, Abby." Tony pulled her a little closer and hugged her, glad that she was his friend.

"So you will tell him tomorrow?"

"We will see." Tony's said his eyelids dropping.

"Promise me." Abby said but when she did get an answer she looked up at Tony who had fallen asleep. "I promise you that I would anything to stop Jared from hurting you again."

She yawed, laid her head down on Tony's chest minding the bruise and she fell asleep also.

–--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Tony woke up to the smell of toast and coffee, he stood up, stretched his long body and ignored the little dizzy-spell that came over him. Then he sat down on the couch again and relaxed, he was still a bit sore but he had been through worse.

"How are you doing, cutie?" Abby asked as she walked into the living room with a cup of coffee and a plate with toast on. She set them down in front of Tony motion him to eat.

"Thanks Abs." Tony said with a smile. "I'm fine, how about you?"

"I'm not the one with the bruises..." Abby kept her eyes on him as he ate. "You will tell Gibbs today, right?"

Tony looked at his best friend, he could see that she was really worried about him and he was glad that she seemed to care so much about him.  
But to tell Gibbs.... That was another story.

"Tony, you need to tell him or go to the police." Abby wasn't giving up, after yesterday she was really worried about what Jared would do. Her eyes became wet as she pictured different scenarios in her head. "I'm sorry but if you don't do anything I'll...."

"Take it easy, Abs." Tony said standing up and hugged her. "If you are that worried I'll tell Gibbs."

"You promise?"

"Yes and when Gibbs is kicking my ass for it, you will be the one who take cares off me." Tony said with a smile.

"You can always count on me." Abby said as she stood on her toes and kissed Tony lightly on the cheek.

After eating his toast, Tony jumped into the shower and half an hour later they were on their way to work. It was still early but both Abby and Tony liked to come early to work, so when they pulled into the parking garage it was nearly empty.

"The bossman is already here." Abby said as she spotted Gibbs car and pointed at it. "So you can tell him before the others get here."

Tony just smiled at her as he parked the car next to Gibbs and they both got out. Abby started to walk towards the elevators as she took out her cell phone, she had gotten a text message. Tony bent down to lock the car and was just about to walk away from it when a hand was laid on his shoulder and something was shoved into his back.

"Don't move." Was whispered into his ear as the thing was shoved harder into his back and he recognized the feeling, it was a gun.

"Tony, you better tell him...." Abby said but as she turned around she fell silent. She became pale when she saw Jared with a hand on Tony shoulder and from her friends awkward position she knew that he had a gun pointed at his back. Before she could think her finger pressed the number one on her cell phone, Gibbs number.

"Bitch! You spent the night together!" Jared's voice was high pitched, his face red and he had the same clothes on as he had yesterday. "You are trying to take Tony away from me."

"Jared...." Tony started to say, he was getting worried that Jared would harm Abby because of him, but he was cut off by Jared.

"Don't say anything, baby." Jared said as he moved the hand from Tony's shoulder and laid his arm around Tony's throat instead, then took the gun from behind him and aimed it at Abby.

Abby stood still, her hands in the air, one of her hands still holding the cell phone as she looked at two men.

"I'll teach her a lesson. She should know not to mess around with you. You are mine." Jared's voice was cold as ice as he unsaftied the gun. "Only mine!"

"Jared, you don't have to shoot her." Tony knew he couldn't do anything rash, Jared could hit Abby if he tried something. "Let her into the elevator and I'll go with you whatever you want to go."

"No, Tony!" Abby said. "You can't go with him."

"Abby, don't..." Tony started to say but was cut off by the sound of the elevator, the doors opened and Gibbs walked out, his gun already in his hands.

 

–-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Gibbs had been sitting at his desk in the bullpen drinking his second cup of coffee when his cell phone started to ring, Abby, showed the caller id and he answered it. But his ear was met by static and the he heard a voice saying:

"Bitch! You spent the night together! You are trying to take Tony away from me."

And Gibbs was on his way out of the bullpen and into the elevator, his gun already in his hand. He kept on listening on the short way down to the parking garage and his stomach made flip flops when he heard Tony's voice and Jared's name. He rammed his fist against the elevator-wall, he had known that Jared was bad news.

When the doors opened he could to his surprise hear voices, so he put the cell into his pocket and he stepped out. The sight he saw made his stomach sink and he was near a panic attack inside but his outside didn't show anything.  
Abby was standing just a few feet away with her back at the elevators and next to Tony's car stood Tony and Jared. Jared had a big arm around Tony's throat and a gun trained on Abby.

"Let him go." Gibbs said as he positioned himself in front of Abby as he aimed his gun at Jared.

"This is none of your business, old man." Jared said as he aimed his gun at Gibbs instead.

"You are pointing a gun at my close friend and co-worker, and you are holding MY best agent by the throat. How is that not my business?" Gibbs held his gun steady.

"Tony is mine, he belongs to me. No one else." Jared looked at Gibbs, eyes blazing with fury and his voice was cold.

"Tony doesn't belong to anyone." Gibbs said, trying to reason with Jared. "Let him go and we will talk about this."

"NO!" Jared screamed and squeezed Tony closer to him, unconsciously closing of the air supply for the agent. Tony closed his eyes as he tried to stay calm. "He wants to be with me, he was just going to go with me."

"Only because you are aiming a gun to his best friends head."

"No, that is not true! He wants to be with me!"

"Have you asked him?" Gibbs kept his eyes on the two men as he waved discreetly at Abby so she would move towards the elevator. Abby moved slowly out of the way but she didn't want to leave. Jared looked between Gibbs and Abby, his aim wavering a little.

Gibbs noticed that Tony's eyes were still closed, his breathing was getting labored and he was getting red in the face, making Gibbs more worried.

"Jared, you need to loosen your grip." Gibbs said as he took a step forward. "You are hurting Tony and you don't want that."

"Stay where you are." Jared aimed his gun at Gibbs but loosened his grip around Tony's throat.

Tony opened his eyes as he could breathe again and he looked at Gibbs, his green eyes locked with Gibbs blue.

"Are you alright, Tony?" Gibbs asked, concern coloring his voice.

"I'm OK." Tony said his voice a little raspy.

"Shut up! I don't like the way you talk to him." Jared said.

"I don't care about what you like or what you don't like." Gibbs said. "Let him go before I shoot you and I promise you that I won't lose any sleep over it. But if you put down the gun and let Tony go, maybe we can fix this."

Sweat was starting to form on Jared's forehead, Gibbs was a big threat to his and Tony's happiness and the man made him nervous.

"Jared, listen to Gibbs." Tony said. "If you do as he says, things will be alright."

"Are you taking his side?" Jared asked Tony, not believing his ears and he loosened his grip on Tony only to push him in front of him, his gun now aimed at Tony's chest. "If you have to choose between him and me, who would you go with?"

"Jared, I told you yesterday that I don't want you." Tony said his hands half raised, he looked over his shoulder and positioned himself so he was shielding Gibbs from Jared.

"You didn't mean that." Jared said heartbroken. "I know that you want to be with me."

"That's not true, Jared and you know it. We are not meant to be together."

Jared looked into Tony's clear green eyes and he saw the truth in Tony's words. He had blown it but then a little voice in his head started to ramble: Well if I can't have him no one else should have him.

"One last chance, Tony. Him or me?" Jared said his gun still on Tony as he waited for the other mans answer. But he knew the answer as Tony glanced over his shoulder again at the older man behind him. Jared took a deep breath as he pulled the trigger.

 

–---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Gibbs didn't know what to do, Tony was in the line of fire so he couldn't shoot Jared without hurting the younger agent. Then he heard Jared say:

"One last chance, Tony. Him or me?" and he knew that he had to act before something happened.  
Gibbs caught Tony's glance as the younger man half turned at the same time as Jared fired his gun and Gibbs threw himself towards Tony, not fully catching him before he hit the ground but luckily breaking the younger man's fall a little and then he swung his gun upwards and fired it.

–---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Abby watched helplessly as her two friends tumbled to the ground, she knew that some one had been hit. She rushed towards them, skidded on the pavement next to them as Gibbs carefully straightened himself so he was sitting on the pavement with Tony's upperbody in his lap.

He looked up and saw Jared lying still on the ground beside Tony's car, blood pooling beside him, then he met Abby's worried eyes and looked down at the younger man in his lap.  
Tony's eyes were closed but he was breathing, Gibbs noticed a small cut on Tony's forehead and then a bullet wound on his left upper arm.

"Call 911." Gibbs said to Abby as he put pressure on Tony's arm. Abby took out her cell phone and dialed.

"What's going on, Gibbs?" McGee asked, coming from the other side of the garage. Then he saw Gibbs holding an arm, blood oozing between his fingers and then he saw that the arm belonged to Tony. "What happened?"  
”Jared shot Tony, I shot him:” Gibbs said as he waved at Jared's body. ”Can you go and check him?”  
McGee nodded drew his gun as he walked over to the still body, kicked the gun away before bending down trying to feel a pulse not finding one.  
”He's dead, boss.”  
Gibbs just nodded and Abby took a deep breath of relief before continue talking to the operator.

"Abby, where are the ambulance?" Gibbs asked.

"It's on its way." Abby said trying to keep calm. A few minutes later the ambulance came into the parking garage, the paramedics loaded Tony quickly into the ambulance and Gibbs jumped into it.  
The paramedics closed the doors and the ambulance sped off, leaving the others behind.

"Come Abby." McGee said as he laid his arm around her shoulders. "I'll drive you to the hospital.”

Abby nodded, cast a long last look after the ambulance and then followed McGee. 

–----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gibbs was sitting in the ambulance next to the stretcher that held Tony's still body, his blue eyes were watching the younger man intently for any sign of waking up.

He was amazed of how young the other agent looked, he just wanted to hold him close but he forced himself to sit still and keep calm.

And outwardly the older man looked very calm but inside a storm was raging. How could he let this happened? He had known that something was wrong about Jared, his gut had told him that and if he had listen he could have prevented this but he hadn't.

Gibbs could hear the paramedics, talking medical terms, he knew some of them but his thoughts were solid on Tony and willing the young man to wake up.

What would he do without Tony in his life? With that thought in his mind he grabbed the younger mans hand, leaned forward and whispered in Tony's ear:

"The order still stands, DiNozzo."

 

–---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Abby was sitting beside McGee in his car as they drove towards the hospital. She couldn't believe that Jared had shot Tony but she could still see it, like in slow-motion, how Tony and Gibbs fell to the ground as a shot rang out. Her eyes watered and she started to cry.

"It's my fault." She mumbled in a low voice.

"What did you say, Abby?" McGee asked as he glanced over at Abby.

She looked up and meeting McGee's eyes for few seconds before repeating herself.  
"It's my fault, I should had made Tony go to Gibbs sooner."

"What are you talking about, Abby?" McGee asked frowning

"Tony and Jared has a history......" Abby started to say, unsure how much to tell him.

"It's alright, Abby." McGee said smiling a small smile. "I know that Tony goes both ways. It's alright."

Abby looked at him with big eyes before she continued to talk.

"Tony and Jared dated six months ago, nothing serious, Jared isn't really Tony's type but they went out for a couple of dates. Then Jared started to get jealous at the attention Tony get's when he goes out, he starting to act possessive, threatening anyone that talked to Tony so Tony broke up with him. We thought that would be enough, but then Jared started to stalk him, calling any hour and crying, begging that Tony would take him back." Abby took a deep breath, looked out the window. "It became so bad that Tony decided to meet Jared to talk things out. I don't know what really happened, Tony never told me but I know that they had a fight. I saw his bruises but he never saw Jared again."

"Until now." McGee said, frowning. "Why didn't you tell Gibbs?"

"Tony felt embarrassed, he didn't want to bother Gibbs." Abby said. "But I should had force him after what happened three days ago."

"Didn't Tony slip in the shower three days ago?" McGee asked confused, his eyebrows knitted together.

"Not really, I think that Jared pushed him or something. He didn't want to tell what happened, but when I joked about someone trying to force himself on him, Tony went all pale and brushed it off. It gave me the creeps."

"That bastard!" McGee said feeling anger. "Why didn't Tony tell us?"

"He didn't want to bother anyone, but I should have forced him to tell Gibbs." Abby started to cry.  
”It's gonna be okay, Abby.” McGee said as he laid a hand on Abby’s.

–--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gibbs was sitting next to a hospital bed, the chair he was in stood close to the bed and he was watching the young man that lay in it, intently.

The Doctor had talked to him that Tony's injuries weren't critical, the shot-wound had been stitched and the young agent hadn't lost so much blood. The head injury weren't serious either.

When the Doctor started to speak about bruises on Tony's upper body and arm, Gibbs became surprised and worried. He tried to stay calm as the Doctor told that there were no broken ribs and the arm was just bruised.

Gibbs thanked him and then went to sit beside Tony's bed waiting for him to wake up, while his thoughts raced thru his head and he leaned forward to check on the bruise on Tony's arm.

When he saw it, a hand shaped bruise, he almost banged the wall so angry was he because he was certain that it was Jared that had done it to the young man.

Why didn't you tell me about it? Gibbs asked in his mind as he looked at Tony. I could have done something. His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door, he was glad to see Abby and McGee stepping thru the door.

"Is he alright?" Abby asked as she walked up to the bed and kissed Tony on his forehead, then she turned to Gibbs.

"He will be fine, the bullet went clean thru, he didn't lost so much blood and he was just knocked unconscious, nothing serious. But he may be a little sore." Gibbs looked at her with clear blue eyes. "Due to the big bruises on his ribs and arm."

"I'm sorry, Gibbs." Abby said looking at him with tears in her eyes. "I found out about them yesterday and I made him promise me to tell you today."

"It's alright, Abs." Gibbs said as he pulled her into a hug. "It wasn't your fault. Can you tell me what happened to Tony?"

"I don't really know what happened, he didn't want to tell me. He felt embarrassed about it."

"About what, Abby?"

"About Jared."

"I'm a little confused." Gibbs said looking at her and then at Tony. "Did they know each other?"

"I'm sorry, Tony." Abby whispered as she took a deep breath and held Tony's hand in hers. "Tony and Jared dated a few times, six moths ago. Jared isn't really Tony's type but he agreed to date Jared. After a couple of dates, Jared started to become really possessive and jealous. You know Tony, almost everyone wants to be his friend and he almost never says no. So Jared started to threaten people around Tony so Tony got fed up and ended it." Abby took a pause; she kept her eyes on her friend as she caressed his hand wither thumb. "That's it, we thought but Jared started to call Tony, day and night. Crying and begging that Tony would take him back."

When Gibbs thought back, he remembered that Tony seemed tired and his cell phone was ringing a lot around six months ago. So he nodded and watched the young man while Abby continued talking.

"Tony decided to meet Jared and explain that they didn't have a chance. I don't what happened, he never wanted to tell me the whole thing but I saw the bruises on Tony's back and chest. Then Jared stopped calling so I didn't think about it again until three days ago."

"When Tony slipped in the shower?" Gibbs asked looking at Abby. "We walked in on you two having a conversation, then you spoke Italian to him?"

"Yes and I'm certain that he didn't slip." Abby said looking into Gibbs blue eyes. "I think that Jared tried to jump him or something but it's better if you ask Tony."

"I guess you are right, Abs." Gibbs said holding her. 

 

–--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Tony was waking up slowly, he could feel that he was lying in a bed and he couldn't hear anything so he opened his eyes slowly.

He was in a white room, a hospital room, and when he thought back he remembered what had happened. Jared had shot him but what happened to Gibbs and Abby? That thought made him panic and he moved, then he noticed two heavy things on each side of his bed and he smiled.

To his left Abby was half-lying and half sitting holding his hand, as she was asleep. To his left Gibbs was in a same position.

Tony lay back with a smile on his face, and then he looked again to his left. Gibbs was holding his hand! He felt the warmth from the other mans hand and he felt a rush of happiness.

He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the feel before he opened them again. He wanted to stay like this but he needed to go to the bathroom.

Slowly he pulled his hand from Abby's grasp, the lab-tech kept on sleeping, then he turned to his left and slowly tried to pull away. Gibbs woke up immediately, he met Tony's clear green eyes and he smiled.

"Hi." Tony said in a low voice.

"Hi." Gibbs said back. "You feeling alright?"

"Yeah but I need to go to the bathroom." Tony said with a small embarrassed smile.

Gibbs sat up, then stood up and offered his hand to Tony. The younger man looked at the hand, took a hold on it and slowly sat up. His ribs were a little sore and he became a little dizzy as he stood up but it disappeared almost immediately.

"You okay?" Gibbs asked as he placed a hand on Tony's back.

"I'm fine, boss." Tony said, the feel of Gibbs hand on his back made him warm but at the same time he felt embarrassed.

The older NCIS-agent nodded and waited outside the bathroom door just in case if Tony needed some help.

Tony did his business, washed his hands and opened the door, then stepped out and he saw Gibbs standing just outside

"Tony!" Abby yelled out loud an in a second she was in front of him and hugging him hard.

"Abs..." Tony said painfully. "Not so hard."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Abby said as she loosened her hug. "You made me so worried."

"I didn't mean to, Abs." Tony said with a smile.

"I know cutie pie but if you do it again, you will regret it." Abby said hutting a finger at him.

"Let's get him back to bed, Abby." Gibbs said and they both helped Tony back into bed and laid the covers over him.

"What happened to Jared?" Tony asked.

"I shot him." Gibbs said.

Tony looked into the older man's ice blue eyes, seeing the answer to his next question in those eyes. He looked away, he felt relief but he was sad that Gibbs had to kill because of him.  
”I'm sorry, Gibbs.”  
”Well, I'm not.” Gibbs said his voice hard as stone. ”He hurt you and would have killed you.”  
”But...” Tony started.  
”No buts, Tony.” Gibbs said as he took the younger man hand. "But, please tell us what happened this last few days between you and Jared." 

Tony looked up at Gibbs when he said please, the older man never said please and when he looked into the blue eyes he fell into them and started to talk.

After telling them both what happened between him and Jared, Tony felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment and he didn't want to looked either of his friends in the eye.  
”Why didn't you tell us?” Gibbs said as he reached for Tony and turned the younger man towards him.  
”I was to embarrassed, I should be able to handle things like this. To fight back” Tony said as he meet the older man's eyes. ”But I'm a coward.”  
”That is the dumbest thing I ever heard!” Gibbs growled. ”Tony, you are not weak or a coward. You are one of the bravest men I have ever met.”  
”But...” Tony couldn't believe his ears.  
”Again, no buts!!” Gibbs said and he leaned closer. ”You can never do anything to make me see you like that.”  
Both men just kept on staring into each others eyes, everything around them disappearing and it felt like they were the only people in the world.  
”Finally!!” Abby broke the spell as she stood up and moved away from the hospital bed, with a big smile on her face. ”Don't mind me and please, do it already!!”  
Tony and Gibbs turned to her and when she gave them thumbs up, both smile before turning back to each other.

The End


End file.
